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In Strike Fleet, you're the commander of a battleship embarking on a series of missions in troublespots around the world. Under your command you have one, several or a fleet of ships, depending on the difficulty level you've selected. The missions range from patrolling certain areas keeping the peace to destroying a fleet of subs or intercepting various patrols. Most of the time wholesale destruction is the object.

Ships can be deployed using separate orders or as a fleet. Using the radar, you seek out potential targets and lock onto them. You can either ignore them (if that suits the mission) or blow them from the water using the ordnance you've loaded on board before the mission began. Of course, they fight back, meaning you often need to take evasive action.

The graphics are best described as functional. The sea is represented by a dead flat blue colour and the enemy ships are disappointingly simple. The audio effect for the radar warning sounds like a dog barking and your ship is reminiscent of a steam train.

Strike Fleet is full of detail, technical stuff and impressive naval waffle. Unfortunately, it's a little too technical and you need to be familiar with so many operating procedures that the game's no fun. Couple that with the long spaces spent doing nothing but floating about looking for something to shoot, and you've got a bit of a loser on your hands.

1. Naval sims are in at the moment. Look at Wolfpack (above) to see a similar sort of game done with more flair.
2. Silent Service II beats this on all counts.